Child welfare case workers are seldom recognized

While I am pleased and relieved to know the current child welfare system is gaining the attention of media and government officials in the hopes of achieving improvement, I am also disheartened by the lack of respect provided to the caseworkers who are working on the ground day in and day out.

I feel the voice of the caseworkers has been missing over the past year as the media has documented the serious tragedies occurring to our vulnerable youth. While the current system is flawed and in desperate need of change, caseworkers are out there fighting for the lives and safety of these children.

Never once has the media reported on the lives of those saved by entering the foster care system. Never once has the media interviewed caseworkers to provide thanks for the long days and overly emotional and traumatic work they are doing. Never once has a story been published outlining the understated fact that caseworkers are overworked and expected to meet standards which are improbable and unreasonable given the current numbers of cases per worker.

Caseworkers do not go into this field expecting to make much money or receive any appreciation. Unless you have done the work and gone into a family’s home where children were then removed from their parents care, no person has the right to discredit the decisions made. Caseworkers are oftentimes working 60-70 plus hours a week missing time with their own families and friends, putting themselves in harm’s way, and are at times treated in despicable ways while trying to keep families together and safe.

They are carrying caseloads well over national standards, sometimes upwards of 25-plus cases a month. (National standards state 12 cases a month is what each worker should be expected to hold.)

If we want to see significant improvement of our child welfare system, we must stop cutting the budget. As a state, we cannot ask more from our caseworkers if we are not willing to invest in their training and resources. Rather than instituting hiring freezes, we must increase the number of positions available in order to significantly decrease case load size.

We should stop blaming caseworkers for doing an impossible job and look at the root problems of the current system. Our children deserve better than what we are offering them and the brave souls who embark on a career in child welfare deserve more praise than they have been afforded by our media.

Ask yourselves what it would look like for families and children if nobody did the work of investigating child abuse/neglect. For every tragic case dissected in the news, there are 100 stories out there highlighting a child’s survival or a family’s ability to receive services and overcome barriers because of the dedication, compassion and hard work of their caseworkers.

There is no job more challenging; more emotional; more traumatic than that of a Caseworker. They do not deserve to have any less value placed on the work they are doing than any other professional. This is our chance to come together and fix this. Our children depend on it. Our caseworkers depend on it. Our nation depends on it.

And we deserve it.

Rebecca Meyers holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Denver. She has worked in child welfare for the better part of the last decade as an intake caseworker.

Thank you Rebecca for being courageous enough to write a commentary from a person who has been there and done that in a time where you can expect a snear and harsh words when telling people what you do or have done for a living (casework). I have been in child welfare since 1994 and know the impact it has had on me, my marriage, my children and every aspect of my life. Until you have done the impossible job put before you as a caseworker, watch the stones you throw. I have a master’s degree and am a licensed clinical social worker and yet barely make enough to support my own family. So why did I choose this field and why do I stay .. because I believe in families and want nothing more than to ensure safety while empowering families to make safe decisions. It is heart breaking when a family is unable to make those decisions and I have to request court intervention. Untill you have worked in this field you will never know the fear that we wake up with in the middle of the night when working with troubled families. You will also never know the happiness when a person thanks you for helping them, be it adult or child. Does our system need improvements .. you bet and Rebecca has laid them out beautifully. Caseworker is at times an impossible task given what is expected and required. Is it a job taken lightly and without thought? Hell no and anyone that suggests that needs to spend a day with one of us. My hope is that at some point there will be a series devoted to the work we do and the families that have been helped but I doubt we will see that anytime soon as it won’t garner the ratings the sensationalism gets. Thanks again Rebecca and from someone who worked with you for a short period of time, I know where your heart is and am proud to say I know you.

David Harsanyl

I totally agree. Our CASA Volunteers( Court Appointed Special Advocates) are seldom recognized either for what they do.The lives of children are saved and these folks continue to advocate for in the court system as well as the foster care system for the children that are abused or neglected.
AWESOME JOB goes out to ALL the wonderful case workers, CASA workers and many others who advocate for the best interest of a child in Colorado and beyond!

Michele Sienkiewicz

Well said, Rebecca! We are proud to call you a graduate of GSSW and you speak very eloquently about the challenges that caseworkers face. My career started in Child Welfare in NYC and I wholeheartedly agree that the vast majority of child welfare workers are extremely dedicated, hard working and competent. We ask all of you to an impossible job and most of you go far above and beyond the minimum requirements, in sub-par conditions. Thanks for taking the time to write! Here’s to you and all of your colleagues for a job well done! Michele Sienkiewicz

Anonymous

Masters level social workers are experts in child welfare with outcomes that are proven to be better than others in the field but when you pay them less than their education level would suggest and demand they do the work of 2-3 people you won’t get those results. They are currently being held up to the standards of superheroes and being vilified when they are unable to see the future and be everywhere at once.

SOCAL LCSW CPS Supervisor

Well, 25 cases is pretty good for us. Try being in Southern California. Anything under 40 is considered good, both from in intake and long term caseworker positions. I would be delighted if each of my workers were at 25. I would like to know where the standard of 12 comes from for my own info. I was always familiar with the 15 standard from CWLA.

michelle wolff

American Humane Association is who advocates 12 if I remember right. I did child protection for 10 years. 40 cases would have killed me I don’t know how you keep any workers at all

Kate Thornton

Thank you for writing this. I have been a CPS case worker for over fourteen years, these chilidren and their families are so incredibly important to me. These other articles written recently have been very hard on mine and other workers like mines, spirt. So thank you.

Amiessa

Thank you Rebecca! As a past caseworker, I appreciate your words. People are quick to judge. No one truly understands until they have walked in a caseworker’s shoes.

reallybusymama

Thank you from Michigan! Today was a day where I thought, I just can’t do this job anymore! Relatively new to the field of foster care (1 year 9 months), I still struggle with the many systems and the balance of it all. I will acquire my MSW in 6 months and hope that I will be a voice for change in the system. Your article was just what I needed to read.

Debi G.

THANK YOU!!! Somehow I survived the job for 30 years. I finally had to retire before I went postal. The governor of SC appointed a state director who is clueless, and she hired a deputy director that is just as clueless. They are stressing numbers for reports over protection of the children and families. They are trying to figure out how to piecemeal the agency out to unqualified agencies in an attempt to not hire the staff needed. When I retired I was making $38500 per year — after 30 years of service, my retirement is $21462.12 per year. I can’t even afford to pay my bills, and am getting ready to file for personal bankruptcy. Thanks for speaking out for us.

http://www.facebook.com/linda.marcielprien Linda Marciel Prien

Great article…I couldn’t agree more! I wrote an article for Yahoo!Voices from a similar perspective. Getting accurate information out to the public on this important issue is a top priority! Good job.

AMJ

This article has no time limit, caseworkers go home time after time and wonder and worry whether we are truley making a difference. How can we not care about our children and youth, they are afterall our future. Teaching healthy parenting is essential.
Carl Yung said it best in a quote-

“We reach backward into our parents and forward into
our children, and through their children into a future we well never see, but
about which we must therefore care”.

Rebecca Meyers, Denver

Thanks to all of you for reading and for commenting. I am so happy to be able to provide a voice. We all know there is much more to be said. I hope this is a starting point. The more who read, speak and care, the more likely we are to see the beginnings of change. I just want you all out there to know you’re doing the work of hero’s. And you’re not thanked enough. So thank you! And I hope this is the year we can make a difference together.

Jlaw3000

Thanks for this. My wife is a cps caseworker in Larimer County and your commentary made her day. The recent “failed to death” series was an unfortunate way for the Denver Post to approach this subject and the media coverage that went along with it was despicable. Thanks again for shedding positive light on the caseworkers, they really deserve it.

Claire Kelley

Thank you Rebecca Meyers for acknowledging the hard work done by caseworkers in the CPS field. We are in the field because we believe in families and the safety of children. I have done Intake, Voluntary, Family Reunification/Family Maintenance as a case worker. And finally made a change 7 years ago to change from a case worker to a support worker, as my long hours typing court reports and making placements, too a toll for me and my family. I still work in the field but now supervising visits. I love the children and believe in families. I made changes for myself and family but still believe in our mission of child safety and families receiving services needed. Thanks for your article and support of our caseworkers. When you work in the field, you know how hard it can be, but such a worthy cause. Thanks for appreciating CPS caseworkers!!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1433418581 Brian Davis

Thank you dearly from Pennsylvania! Keep up the amazing work caseworkers across the country!!!

Supportive worker husband

Absolutely spot on with this article. I too am disgusted by the sensationalism these news corporations use only to obtain viewership, rather than identifing facts from both sides of the fence and assisting with a solution. Any common uneducated uninformed Joe can tell you what’s wrong with societal issues, but it takes true, hardworking, dedicated professionals to perform these roles day in and day out to make it better. If these news corporations were truly interested in helping remedy these situations then why not donate all revenues associated from advertising and viewership of these stories to the groups working hard each and everyday. The fact that they do not clearly states their intentions.

Lastly, why is it that the case workers are vilified? As others have stated they are making the best of limited resources, being underpaid, working with cases/people/CHILDREN in deplorable situations and doing whatever they can to make things better, even if its not always clearly evident. If the news corporations need to vilify anybody, how about completing some due dillegence and research the families involved in these stories? Some families unfortunately are in tough situations and need assistance trying to make the best of it. However look at the individual family/caregiver cases involved in “Failed to Death” stories and see how many of those kids were harmed/abused/killed by social workers. Absolutely zero. If anyone needs to be vilified its the people that are harming these children, but instead the news corporations treat them as victims.

http://www.facebook.com/sharon.burns.73345 Sharon Joyce-Burns

Nicely written. Unfortunatly, there are only 2 social workers that fit this article and they will probably quit or be fired before I get done with this comment.

Vincent Carroll is The Denver Post's editorial page editor. He has been writing commentary on politics and public policy in Colorado since 1982 and was originally with the Rocky Mountain News, where he was also editor of the editorial pages until that newspaper gave up the ghost in 2009.

Guidelines: The Post welcomes letters up to 150 words on topics of general interest. Letters must include full name, home address, day and evening phone numbers, and may be edited for length, grammar and accuracy.

To reach the Denver Post editorial page by phone: 303-954-1331

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